WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:03.759 If you have a Bible with you, let me invite you to turn to Daniel 7. 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:14.800 And uh I remember years ago I was doing a uh teaching through Revelation and uh told somebody that was what I was doing. 00:00:15.039 --> 00:00:20.640 And his response to the apocalyptic section of the Bible was, did you scare them? 00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:25.039 Well, no, no, I don't think that's really what it's about. 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:29.280 I I showed them Jesus, and Jesus wins, and that's the point of apocalypse. 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:38.880 Uh when we when we hear the word apocalypse, what we think about is zombies and uh earthquakes, aliens, you know, big floods, uh all those kinds of things. 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:43.679 But the word apocalypse comes from the Greek word meaning to just take the cover off and to show what's inside. 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:44.719 It means to reveal. 00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:51.359 That's why the last book of the uh Bible, people will say it it's the book of Apocalypse, the Apocalypse of John. 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:52.799 But what it means is the revelation. 00:00:53.119 --> 00:01:07.840 God is showing us things and in words that we may uh not have thought to express them, but but it goes past our kind of rational minds into our souls so that we can feel it and what's going on. 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:13.040 And I want that to happen for you as we're reading through this passage, is to feel what's taking place. 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:18.079 Now, what's taking place in the passage is uh there's a shift in Daniel. 00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:26.640 In the first six chapters, it's largely historical, and it's about the life of Daniel living in the kingdom of King Nebuchadnezzar and then of King Belshazzar. 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:30.319 And various miraculous things happen. 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:32.000 He interprets dreams. 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:38.799 There's Daniel and the lions, then where God protected him from the uh the deadly uh feline. 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:47.200 And uh Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were in the flaming furnace of fire, and they survived, and there's one like a son of man who's walking in the midst. 00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:48.640 Gee, I wonder who that was. 00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:56.959 And uh, so there are these miraculous things, so that by the time you get to this passage, which actually backs up in time to King Belshazzar. 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:00.480 So this didn't take place chronologically after Daniel and the lion's den. 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:02.480 This is back to King Belshazzar. 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:16.159 And what's going on is we know Daniel receives revelations, Daniel interprets revelations, and so when we look at the book of Daniel, chapter seven and following, we recognize this is from God. 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:20.080 These weren't bad mushrooms in the middle of the night for Daniel. 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:23.360 This was God revealing these things to him. 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:27.919 There's a quote from John Barton about reading uh biblical apocalyptic literature. 00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:42.240 He says, Biblical apocalyptic is a revelation of the ending of this present age, which is an age characterized by conflict, and it's replacement by the final age of peace. 00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:52.000 It shows us ahead of time the end of the kingdom of this world and the replacement by the kingdom of our God and of his Christ. 00:02:52.240 --> 00:03:01.039 This revelation is unfolded in complex and mysterious imagery and has the purpose of comforting and exhorting the faithful. 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:07.039 So it's not just informing us, it's transforming us, it's changing us from the inside out. 00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:22.639 So in apocalyptic literature, God is revealing the big picture that nothing can change, heal, or save the world other than the coming of the reign of Jesus, the judgment and removal of all evil, and a new heavens and a new earth. 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:29.840 And Jesus will come and do it, and that is the theme throughout all apocalyptic literature, and that is the theme of Daniel 7. 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:35.199 So, if you're willing and able, let me invite you to stand as we read God's word in Daniel 7. 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:48.479 In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions in his head as he lay in his bed. 00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:52.319 Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter. 00:03:52.479 --> 00:04:05.039 Daniel declared, I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea, and four great beasts came up out of the sea different from one another. 00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:09.599 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings. 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:19.519 Then, as I looked, its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:25.120 And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear, it was raised up on one side. 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:31.519 It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth, and it was told, Arise, devour much flesh. 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:43.920 After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back, and the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:51.199 After this I saw in the next visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful, and exceedingly strong. 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:57.360 It had great iron teeth, it devoured and broken pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. 00:04:57.600 --> 00:05:01.600 It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:11.600 I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:18.800 And behold, in this horn were eyes, like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:29.600 As I looked, thrones were placed, and the ancient of days took his seat, his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool. 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:42.480 His throne was fiery flames, its wheels were burning fire, a stream of fire issued and came out from before him, a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:47.120 The court sat in judgment, and the books were opened. 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:57.839 I looked then because the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking, and as I looked, the beast was killed, its body destroyed, and given over to be burned with fire. 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:04.480 As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:24.560 I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him, and to him was given dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:33.920 His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. 00:06:34.240 --> 00:06:38.800 As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me. 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:43.279 I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. 00:06:43.519 --> 00:06:47.279 So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things. 00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:57.920 These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth, but the saints of the most high shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever. 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:23.360 Then I desired to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broken pieces and stamped what was left with its feet, and about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up, and before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions. 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:36.800 As I looked, this horn made war with the saints, and prevailed over them, until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom. 00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:49.120 Thus he said, As for the fourth beast, there shall be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and it shall devour the whole earth, and trample it down and break it to pieces. 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:56.079 As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them. 00:07:56.399 --> 00:08:00.079 He shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings. 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:12.720 He shall speak words against the most high, and shall wear out the saints of the most high, and shall think to change the times and the law, and they shall be given to his hand for a time, times, and half a time. 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:30.079 But the court shall sit in judgment, and his dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed to the end, and the kingdom and the dominion and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High. 00:08:30.399 --> 00:08:36.480 His kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:38.320 Here's the end of the matter. 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:47.440 As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me, and my color changed, but I kept the matter in my heart. 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:54.080 Well, of course, his thoughts greatly alarmed him, and probably yours greatly alarm you. 00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:57.759 So let me pray and ask God to bless us as we open this up. 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:04.080 This is language we're not used to, Lord Jesus. 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:06.559 We don't talk really this way. 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:14.000 We're used to all kinds of crazy and scary images on our shows and movies that we watch and our books that we read. 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:18.159 But this has a deeper purpose and deeper meaning. 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:23.919 It's tied to a reality that is going on around us that has happened in the past and will continue into the future. 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:33.279 And so we pray that you and your wisdom and grace would direct us now as we consider what this means for us. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:48.879 We pray that all that we say and think or our time together would be pleasing to you, would be directed by you, and would be used by you to bless your people and to bring those who have questions to a greater assurance. 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:50.559 Would you bless us and be with us? 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:51.679 And Lord, would you bless me? 00:09:51.759 --> 00:09:54.720 I'm handling not just holy things but mysterious things. 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:59.919 And uh I've tried to put it in a package that I can fathom and understand. 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:07.600 But there's more here, and I pray that you would direct and guide us, at least in what we're talking about in this room, and give us even greater knowledge outside. 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:08.240 Bless me. 00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:12.399 The weak one who stands in front and proclaims truth. 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:15.039 Bless us, we pray, in Jesus' name. 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:16.320 Amen. 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:23.519 I don't remember. 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:29.120 I Rebecca will tell you my memory's going, so I can't remember if I've told the story or when I've told I've told it, but I don't know when. 00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:33.440 Uh years ago doing campus ministry, we had a movie night. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:36.240 We had about 30 or 45 students in our house. 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:39.919 We had a big wooden door, and then we had a storm door, just a glass door. 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:44.559 And so we close, we opened the big wooden door, had the glass door open so people could see they could just come on in. 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:48.480 And Katie did not know that uh there was a storm door. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:56.639 And so we were just beginning the movie, and when we heard a shatter as she hit the glass, glass and blood went everywhere. 00:10:56.960 --> 00:10:59.200 And so everybody just stops what we're doing. 00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:06.240 We run out to the foyer, and there's she is in the middle, hands and knees, shorts, hands, and she says, Al. 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:09.200 And so we got her to the hospital. 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:13.360 So I got uh we had a couple of nursing students, they got in my car with me. 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:18.879 Um, we drove to the hospital and uh, you know, called her parents, all of these kind of things. 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:24.399 And uh so we got, she was okay, she had stitches, she got healed up, it was good. 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:49.200 And but when I got back to the house, I saw that you know there was no blood, there was no glass anywhere because our students, well, we had engineering students and others who went out and they found a way of like detecting where all the blood was using lights and things, and so they just scrubbed, cleaned up all the glass, got everything cleaned up, and they got the house healed up. 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:55.519 So Katie got healed up, the house got healed up, and if you can understand that, you can understand Daniel 7. 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:56.960 Isn't that fantastic? 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:12.879 So, what happens in this passage is that he's giving us uh the world's story is that yes, Jesus came to redeem individual people from our sins because we are bloody, we're bruised, we're broken, we're sinful, we need a redeemer. 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:16.559 And so Jesus has come to redeem individual people. 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:20.159 But there are places like this when we're getting more of the big pictures. 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:25.279 Jesus did not just come to redeem individual people, he came to redeem the world. 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:29.600 And this is a world redemption passage that we're looking at. 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:31.440 He's doing something bigger. 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:35.279 We recognize, yes, Stephen speaks needs redemption. 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:36.879 I need to be remade. 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:41.440 But the world also needs redemption and needs to be remade. 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:42.639 And we know this. 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:43.840 We know that we need both. 00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:46.639 If you've looked at the headlines this morning, you know that we need both. 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:48.559 New York Times, U.S. 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:51.919 and Iran failed to agree on a peace deal. 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:53.519 War is in our headlines. 00:12:53.600 --> 00:12:55.360 It always has been in the headlines. 00:12:55.600 --> 00:12:56.480 Listen to this quote. 00:12:56.639 --> 00:13:01.200 In the last 300 years, there have been 386 wars in Europe. 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:08.960 And since the year 1500, 8,000 known peace treaties have been signed. 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:15.200 Each one was signed with the intention that it should last forever, but the average length of each was a little over two years. 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:22.559 Right now, 2026, there are 120 armed conflicts taking place worldwide. 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:25.279 At least the internet tells me that, so it's got to be true. 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:34.480 Um and this the internet also tells me this a significant majority of the world's population lives under regimes with restricted freedoms, about 70%. 00:13:35.120 --> 00:13:38.639 Uh I don't know how they define restricted freedoms, but you can look it up. 00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:46.480 With some figures suggesting that around 39% live under outright authoritarian rule. 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:49.679 Does that feel right as you listen to the news and as you study the world? 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:50.399 It might. 00:13:50.639 --> 00:14:09.919 And into our modern anxieties, this passage speaks confidence, peace, and hope in what God has planned, because he tells us no evils will last, no regimes remain, in the end they will all turn to dust and blow away, and the permanent glory, peace, prosperity, joy of God's kingdom will be our landscape. 00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:13.360 It will be our home, it will be all that we see. 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:18.559 Now, uh I know all of us are curious mainly about the monstrosities here. 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:21.600 They get a lot of press in this passage. 00:14:21.759 --> 00:14:22.240 What are they? 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:26.000 I'm not going to spend a lot of time here, but I want to point out a few things. 00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:35.519 Chapter 7, verse 23, pointing out, it's showing us that these carnivorous, predatory monstrosities are actually representing kings and kingdoms. 00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:45.279 Oppressive, wicked, violent political governmental systems who exert power to benefit themselves at the expense of others. 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:54.159 And it's saying you're either part of the system or you're prey to the system, but you, as an individual person, are not going to be able to stop that. 00:14:54.320 --> 00:15:02.000 Because evil is not just located in the individual human heart, it is found in human systems where people get together. 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:09.919 And commentators tell us who specifically who these, oh, four, who these four uh monstrosities are. 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:19.600 Looking at world history and seeing that during the time between Daniel and the time of Christ, uh, this matches up really well with four kingdoms that arose. 00:15:19.840 --> 00:15:24.720 One, and this is what you see, the eagle lion that he talked about represents Babylon. 00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:38.080 And when the the uh the eagle lion loses his wings and gets pulled up and is stood up like a man, that's Nebuchadnezzar because at some point he appears to have been converted and become more human-like rather than a predator. 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:43.120 And then the humpback bear refers to the Medes and the Persians. 00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:51.200 The four-headed leopard bird is Greece, and the wings represent the speed with which Alexander the Great took over what was for them the known world. 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:56.480 So by the age of 32, he had conquered the known world, and you can go look at that on in just in world history. 00:15:56.720 --> 00:16:02.080 And then the terrifying iron-toothed seven-headed foot stomper is Rome. 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:08.799 And that one little horn that's talked about here is tied by most commentators to a person by the name of Antiochus Epiphanes. 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:11.600 And we're probably going to talk a little bit more about that next week. 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:13.279 So get ready for that. 00:16:13.519 --> 00:16:21.120 Um so the idea that all of these great nations and empires being portrayed as predators, it's showing us a truth about the world. 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:24.879 Utopian dreams are pipe dreams. 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:30.720 They're not going to happen because we live in a fallen and broken world. 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:39.840 And anytime there is some sort of uh reform that may stave it off over time, that's God in his providence putting a halt to things and slowing things down for a little bit. 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:49.440 But until Jesus comes back, we're not going to have the world of the kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. 00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:52.159 It's not going to happen. 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:59.360 So these monsters get some time in this passage, but they're not really the main point. 00:16:59.919 --> 00:17:07.200 The main point is all of these things are going on between before verses 13 and 14, the monsters, the monstrosities. 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:11.039 After verses 13 and 14, the monstrosities. 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:16.319 But in the middle, there's a contrast because someone shows up. 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:18.480 He's not a monstrosity. 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:20.319 He's not a ravenous beast. 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:22.400 He's one like a son of man. 00:17:22.880 --> 00:17:25.599 And that's where we're going to spend our time this morning. 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:29.279 Okay, so diving in, you can follow along as I'm talking up here. 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:31.759 A scene unfolds in Daniel 7.9. 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:34.559 We've met the monstrosities. 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:36.640 But a scene unfolds in Daniel 7.9. 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:42.799 A tribunal is convened to judge these four kingdoms, and by extension, all the kingdoms. 00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:47.200 Chairs are set, the ancient of days, God Himself presides. 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:53.920 And God, the Ancient of Days, wears white robes, which refers to his holiness and his righteous deeds, his moral purity. 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:56.880 His white hair doesn't mean he lives in the villages. 00:17:57.039 --> 00:18:01.599 His white hair means that he has eternal wisdom. 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:03.200 He knows everything. 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:06.240 His fiery throne refers to his justice. 00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:10.559 His throne with the wheels of fire, it's not like a, you know, really fast wheelchair. 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:16.400 It's referring to the fact that he's on a mission to eradicate all the evils and the wickedness of the world. 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:17.200 He's on a mission. 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:21.519 His throne is active, not passive when it comes to things. 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:23.119 Justice will be served. 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:24.559 He's purifying the earth. 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:28.640 And from his throne comes just verdicts. 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:35.599 And then in Daniel 7.10, the court sits down and books are opened. 00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:39.680 Nothing is redacted, nothing is sealed, everything's revealed and judged. 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:41.200 There are no plea deals. 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:45.680 The stream of fire refers to the complete eradication of evil. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:46.799 He's removing it. 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:53.359 So God's intent is to remove all sin and its sources and to set up something much, much better. 00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:54.400 Here's a quote. 00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:56.079 I think it's have it maybe written. 00:18:56.799 --> 00:19:02.000 God is utterly committed, utterly committed to set the world right in the end. 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:12.880 This doctrine, like that of the resurrection itself, is held firmly in place by the belief in God as creator on the one side, and the belief in his goodness on the other. 00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:26.640 And that setting right must necessarily involve the elimination of all that distorts God, God's good and lovely creation, and particularly of all that defaces his image-bearing human creatures. 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:41.200 Not to put too fine a point on it, there will be no barbed wire in the kingdom of God, and those whose whole being has been dependent upon barbed wire will have no place there either. 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:43.200 And so that's the scene. 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:51.359 And then if you notice, when we picked up in verses 13 and 14, it seems to be changing the channel or changing the scene a little bit, and we get a different scene. 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:53.839 So that's the judgment that's taking place. 00:19:54.240 --> 00:20:01.759 Daniel 7, 13 to 14, the tribunal becomes a coronation, becomes a reception, it becomes an inauguration. 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:07.680 The Son of Man arrives, he's presented before the ancient of days, he's foundworthy and given all dominion over everything. 00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:10.960 So Daniel 7, 13 to 14, if you've got a Bible, read along. 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:12.720 Hopefully it's on the screen. 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:22.480 I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the cloud of heaven, clouds of heaven, there came one like a son of man. 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:27.359 And he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him. 00:20:27.759 --> 00:20:36.319 And to him, the son of man, was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:48.319 His dominion, the son of man, is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. 00:20:48.960 --> 00:20:49.279 Okay. 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:56.160 If you've read the New Testament, the Gospels, you know that Jesus refers to himself throughout as the Son of Man. 00:20:56.400 --> 00:21:01.519 And there are times when people read that and say, well, you know, Jesus is saying he's just a man like you and me. 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:03.599 No, he isn't. 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:07.119 This is a divine figure. 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:15.359 The Jews in the first century knew that this was a divine phrase, but it also is another phrase, it's used of Ezekiel, too. 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:23.759 So in their colloquial phrases, in their modern parlance, their parlance at the time, Ezekiel was called a son of man. 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:25.839 It just meant mere mortal. 00:21:26.799 --> 00:21:35.839 But this is recognizably somebody different because he's coming with the clouds, he's like a son of man, and he receives worship and service. 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:42.480 Like I don't know if you noticed, but it talked about all nations, people, and languages should serve him. 00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:44.079 That's verse 14. 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:48.000 Now, some of your translations have used NIV, it says the word worship. 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:50.880 And some of you, ESV says serve. 00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:59.759 And the reason is because those two things and that phrase, that word in Aramaic, has both those connotations in it. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:03.519 Like when we came here this morning, are you here for service or worship? 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:06.400 It's like, well, yeah, we're here for a worship service. 00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:08.720 And that's the kind of thing he's talking about. 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:16.000 So this one like a son of man is receiving worship, and it's at God's doing. 00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:20.240 So what else do we see here about this identity that it's it's more than a man? 00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:24.880 Well, Ezekiel is said to be a son of man. 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:28.880 So I actually looked at it in the original language to see what's going on here. 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:31.200 Did we just add like a son of man? 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:31.920 And we didn't. 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:37.359 That's actually in the original text, which says that one like a son of man. 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:49.359 There's a preposition or a prefix on the word son of man, and that's why they translate it as like a son of man, which means there's more than meets the eye. 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:54.240 He's not just a mere human, there's something else that's going on. 00:22:54.880 --> 00:22:59.759 One of those things that's going on is that he's arriving in the clouds. 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:02.240 He came with the clouds of heaven. 00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:09.599 So coming in the clouds was a stocked image from that time period to refer to the arrival of deity. 00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:12.240 Clouds were referring to the vehicle of God. 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:15.119 It's like God is showing up in his limousine. 00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:17.519 And he's the only one who rides in this limousine. 00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:19.519 He's the only one who rides in the clouds. 00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:28.000 So when the it's used four times in the Old Testament, only of Yahweh riding in the clouds. 00:23:28.319 --> 00:23:34.880 Except here, it says that this figure, one like a son of man, he comes with the clouds. 00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:37.759 He comes in the limousine. 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:43.279 And so then in 713, the Son of Man is presented before the Ancient of Days. 00:23:43.440 --> 00:23:46.640 He's assessed, he's affirmed, he's confirmed. 00:23:46.880 --> 00:23:51.920 And the time is now right for him to take his throne. 00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:57.039 And it says the Ancient of Days gave him everything: dominion, he's got control. 00:23:58.319 --> 00:24:01.440 Anything he decrees is enacted and it's enforced. 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:03.119 He has that kind of authority. 00:24:03.359 --> 00:24:06.079 He has glory and status, he's the highest rank. 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:09.599 Everyone listens to him, and he's been given a kingdom. 00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:11.759 He's got the deed to the kingdom. 00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:16.480 He has the keys, he has the deed, it belongs to him, the kingdom of God. 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:20.160 So this is Jesus in the midst of all of this. 00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:23.279 Now, it doesn't say what the assessment is. 00:24:23.839 --> 00:24:33.200 When the beasts, this ravenous, monstrous beast, are they assessed, they are removed from power. 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:35.119 Their dominion is taken away. 00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:45.839 When Jesus is assessed, he's given permanent authority, permanent power forever. 00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:49.279 But it doesn't give us what the verdict was, does it? 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:51.279 It doesn't actually say what it was. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:54.720 So you poke around a little bit in the rest of the Bible. 00:24:54.960 --> 00:25:01.920 And one of my favorite places where I think this is pointing us to is the transfiguration of Jesus. 00:25:02.640 --> 00:25:11.279 Where one like a son of man shows himself to be one like a son of God, and the voice of the Almighty speaks, and he gives the verdict. 00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:17.519 This is my son whom I love, with whom I'm well pleased. 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:21.440 Listen to him, because I've given him all authority. 00:25:22.319 --> 00:25:24.640 This is Jesus in this passage. 00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:29.599 And he's given this unending authority, this unending. 00:25:29.759 --> 00:25:31.920 So one like a son of man has come. 00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:51.359 And so when Jesus is referring to himself throughout the New Testament as Son of Man, he's saying, Not I'm merely human, he's saying, Yeah, I am human, but I'm also the Son of God in the flesh, coming to redeem a people for myself. 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:54.880 And this is fantastic news. 00:25:55.200 --> 00:26:02.640 It's incredibly good news because Jesus has been given all the authority to shape the world as he sees fit. 00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:07.440 He and he has an agenda that he's working out, and it's glorious. 00:26:07.680 --> 00:26:11.200 Now, I don't, this is not a conversation about Trump. 00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:13.359 We're not going there, just not gonna do that. 00:26:13.680 --> 00:26:23.599 You may like Trump, you may not like Trump, but he's the president, and that means he has been given authority to work out whatever his agenda is over this four-year period. 00:26:23.839 --> 00:26:25.119 But there's a term limit, right? 00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:27.519 At the end, he's done, four years. 00:26:27.839 --> 00:26:35.599 Jesus has no term limits, and he gets to work out whatever his will is for the rest of eternity throughout all time. 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:40.559 And this is fantastic because of who Jesus is. 00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:42.960 He's told us who he is. 00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:45.119 We see his agenda. 00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:54.079 So in Luke chapter 19, verse 10, we read this for the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost. 00:26:54.960 --> 00:26:58.640 He's looking for the lost and the broken and the wandering. 00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:00.559 Matthew 20, 28. 00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:08.480 The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. 00:27:09.519 --> 00:27:13.200 Jesus came to die so his people could be free. 00:27:14.240 --> 00:27:15.599 That's his agenda. 00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:17.359 Luke 5, 24. 00:27:17.599 --> 00:27:29.839 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he said to the man who was paralyzed, I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home. 00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:35.599 To heal, to rescue, to redeem us. 00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:41.519 But he's also come with the mindset of redeeming and rescuing the whole world. 00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:43.759 To redeem the world, the creation of God. 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:50.319 The monstrosities that we are looking at, they build kingdoms on the backs of their people. 00:27:51.039 --> 00:27:54.480 Jesus built his kingdom by winning his people back. 00:27:55.279 --> 00:28:02.960 The monstrosities conscripted and took children to make them soldiers and slaves, and Jesus took soldiers and slaves and made them children of God. 00:28:03.359 --> 00:28:06.559 The monstrosities built their kingdom by taking lives. 00:28:06.799 --> 00:28:09.680 Jesus built his kingdom by giving his life. 00:28:10.240 --> 00:28:12.240 He's somebody completely different. 00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:25.599 Because the ravenous monstrosities have these appetites that they can't fill unless they can get it from somebody else. 00:28:25.759 --> 00:28:27.279 I need this from the world around me. 00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:31.200 I need power, I need money, I need accolades, I need something. 00:28:31.519 --> 00:28:41.440 There's this insatiable desire in them that leads them to faulty thinking, deluded thinking, and to constantly compare themselves to one another. 00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:42.720 It's from the inside. 00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:46.240 It's from the inside of individuals, it's from the inside of whole systems. 00:28:47.359 --> 00:28:50.720 This is what Dane Ortland says about Jesus. 00:28:51.039 --> 00:28:59.039 About Jesus, we cannot fathom the sheer purity, holiness, cleanness of his mind and heart. 00:28:59.599 --> 00:29:03.839 The simplicity, the innocence, the loveliness. 00:29:04.799 --> 00:29:06.160 He's not a predator. 00:29:06.799 --> 00:29:08.079 He loves his people. 00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:12.240 His desire is for people to be blessed and to glorify his heavenly father. 00:29:12.480 --> 00:29:16.400 He's the one who gives his life to rescue his people. 00:29:17.279 --> 00:29:19.519 So what's the verdict based on? 00:29:20.319 --> 00:29:25.839 When he shows up here in Daniel, God assesses him and he's giving him all the dominion and authority. 00:29:25.920 --> 00:29:26.720 What's it based on? 00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:32.480 Well, here's another one from the New Testament that talks about why God would do this for Jesus. 00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:36.400 This is in Philippians 2, verses 5 and following. 00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:49.839 Jesus, who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be held on to grasp, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant. 00:29:50.079 --> 00:29:55.920 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. 00:29:56.240 --> 00:29:58.240 Therefore God exalted him. 00:29:58.480 --> 00:29:59.759 Did you catch that? 00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:17.279 Because he gave himself, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. 00:30:17.599 --> 00:30:21.599 So Daniel 7 is a preview. 00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:24.480 Daniel 7 is a promise. 00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:29.359 Daniel 7 is a guarantee to say that Jesus sits on the throne. 00:30:29.519 --> 00:30:31.200 And it's the linchpin there. 00:30:32.079 --> 00:30:49.279 If we've talked about the golden thread that's pulled all the way through the whole Bible, from the Genesis chapter 3, promising Jesus coming all the way to the end of the Bible, Revelation 22, and when all is said and done, right here in the middle of Daniel, Daniel 7, that golden thread is tied into a sweet little bow. 00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:51.759 So we can see this is significant. 00:30:52.240 --> 00:30:56.160 And I would challenge you to one to go read the uh channel. 00:30:56.240 --> 00:30:58.160 It sounds like I try to throw it down the gauntlet. 00:30:58.319 --> 00:30:59.039 You go read. 00:30:59.839 --> 00:31:16.960 It might be helpful for you to go and read, uh, just do an online search for the Son of Man passages in the Gospels, and just go read those and see the heart of our Savior, to see the heart of Jesus, and then you know, go elsewhere for that. 00:31:17.279 --> 00:31:20.640 But this is a promise and it's a guarantee for us. 00:31:20.880 --> 00:31:29.440 And a big part of faith in this passage, like he's not talking here necessarily about the redemption of us as individual people. 00:31:29.599 --> 00:31:30.880 He's talking about the redemption of the world. 00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:38.160 And part of faith, part of faith is in Jesus is saying, I'm so glad Jesus is the one to do this. 00:31:38.640 --> 00:31:43.440 I'm glad the kingdom's been given to him because he's the only one who could set things right. 00:31:43.680 --> 00:31:47.440 It's a big part, a big part of saying, I want the world to be shaped by Jesus. 00:31:47.519 --> 00:31:48.960 I want him to be king. 00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:53.599 So what he's telling us is do not be discouraged. 00:31:54.000 --> 00:31:59.359 God is sending the King of Kings, the help of helps to the world. 00:31:59.680 --> 00:32:02.640 And these kingdoms and governments are all temporary, all of them. 00:32:03.359 --> 00:32:06.720 And Jesus' kingdom is forever and his influence. 00:32:07.920 --> 00:32:16.079 And what he's telling us is that the royal family loves you and wants you to be in with them. 00:32:16.640 --> 00:32:29.759 I was digging through my notes for a previous sermons about illustrations that I can help us to understand that somebody who is regal and royal would want us that we're not in their lives. 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:31.839 And there's a story for that. 00:32:33.440 --> 00:32:38.319 Queen Elizabeth passed away a few years ago, and this is a story that somebody told during that. 00:32:38.559 --> 00:32:43.279 And uh, every legislative session begins with began with a visit from the queen. 00:32:43.599 --> 00:32:45.279 It's a very regal tradition. 00:32:45.440 --> 00:33:02.319 She wears her crown, her robe, or she processed down a hallway lined with the queen's guard, who took their swords and they would strike the stone walls as she was walking, and it would create these sparks, this kind of like magical effect as the queen is walking down the hallways. 00:33:02.559 --> 00:33:13.759 And the hallway ended at the House of Lords, where the queen entered to take her seat on the throne and essentially commissions the legislature, legislators to enact the will of the people. 00:33:14.799 --> 00:33:19.519 Several years ago, uh, as she was getting older, they were forced to break that tradition. 00:33:19.599 --> 00:33:26.880 And so instead of going up the stairs and then going down the hall, she would actually ride an elevator and go up because she was getting older. 00:33:27.599 --> 00:33:39.359 And uh the first year that they did this, uh, there was a mistake made because the lift operator, I guess that's all he does all day, every day, is run the Queen's elevator. 00:33:39.680 --> 00:33:47.440 Uh, he pressed the wrong button and it went down, not it went up, not up to the House of Lords, it went to the maintenance floor. 00:33:48.240 --> 00:33:59.599 The door opened, and this maintenance worker named Alice, not even lifting up her head, just pushed her cart onto the elevator and pinned Queen Elizabeth to the back of the elevator. 00:33:59.920 --> 00:34:01.359 The door's closed. 00:34:01.680 --> 00:34:05.599 Alice looks up and sees the Queen and let an expletive fly. 00:34:07.200 --> 00:34:16.159 And everything went still until the Queen of England started with uncontrollable laughter. 00:34:16.880 --> 00:34:20.239 And then the most remarkable invitation. 00:34:20.719 --> 00:34:26.480 Because as the lift worker was, you know, opening the door, she said, don't, let's just ride it out. 00:34:26.719 --> 00:34:30.320 So she rode up to where her soldiers were waiting as they got off. 00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:38.639 And so off of the elevator came Queen Elizabeth and her royal regalia, and Alice, the maintenance worker, with her tray. 00:34:38.719 --> 00:34:41.199 And they're walking down the hallway together. 00:34:41.360 --> 00:34:53.039 And then something else happened is Queen Elizabeth started a tradition where every year Alice would come to Buckingham Palace for high tea with the Queen. 00:34:54.320 --> 00:34:56.559 You would never expect that, would you? 00:34:57.519 --> 00:35:06.960 Would you expect that the elevator would open and you'd be face to face with royalty and that you'd be brought not just into the elevator but into that person's life? 00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:08.800 How about the family? 00:35:09.360 --> 00:35:11.679 You'd be brought into the family of God. 00:35:12.239 --> 00:35:15.360 This is in 1 Thessalonians 4, 16 to 17. 00:35:16.559 --> 00:35:25.679 For the Lord himself, Jesus Himself, will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of the archangel, with the sound of the trumpet of God. 00:35:25.840 --> 00:35:26.960 This is at the end. 00:35:27.280 --> 00:35:29.760 And the dead in Christ will rise first. 00:35:30.159 --> 00:35:41.119 Then we who are alive who are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 00:35:42.079 --> 00:35:51.360 We're going, God's going to send the family limousine for us and pick us up and take us home. 00:35:52.559 --> 00:35:55.840 He's saying here, I've come to redeem the world. 00:35:57.119 --> 00:35:58.880 And I've come to redeem you. 00:35:59.360 --> 00:36:07.519 Because I want that world I'm remaking to be inhabited with my people that I love, my sheep, my children, my friends. 00:36:07.760 --> 00:36:09.519 I want you to be there. 00:36:10.320 --> 00:36:12.000 So what's Daniel 7 about? 00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:15.280 Lots of charts about the future and what's going to take place? 00:36:15.679 --> 00:36:16.000 No. 00:36:17.599 --> 00:36:23.119 One man, one savior, one king, the Redeemer. 00:36:23.679 --> 00:36:24.719 Come on and pray for us.